What to do with dough that did not rise?

Caterina

Help please! A couple of hours ago I got some bread going but the yeast must be too old and the dough has not risen at all. It is not exactly warm here, but I put it on the bedside cabinet in the sun.

However, no swelling. How can I salvage it? And if not salvageable as bread, how can I use it? It would be a shame to throw it away.

Thank you for your help!

theoretica

Either add more fresh yeast or roll out really thin as crisp/unleavened bread.

Caterina

Thank you, I think it is going to be crispbread as I only have that yeast, the family are going to eat flatbread for a while, because it was nearly 2 lbs flour!

j.e.j.

roll it out and make it into a pizza base?

Caterina

Yes pizza is a possibility too, it might be tonight's dinner! Thank you!

Sambucus_Nigra

You can pop it in the fridge and each day, just take some out, let it get to room temp, then roll out for your flatbreads. Will stay ok to use for a week, if in a sealed container

StressedSteph

j.e.j. wrote: »

roll it out and make it into a pizza base?

just what I was going to suggest. Think you could also freeze it for future pizza bases

Badrick

To tell if yeast is OK, try mixing a teaspoon of yeast with a good pinch of sugar in 50mls of warm water, if it gets a frothy head after 15 mins, you can add it to your mix and add flour to offset extra liquid.

Caterina

Thank you all for your useful and informative answers. In the end I had a flash of inspiration after using half the dough to make flatbreads, and used the remaining half to make seitan.

This is wheat gluten made by kneading the dough in cold water for quite a time and rinsing frequently, to stretch the gluten and rinse away all the starch. The resulting mass is very high in protein and an excellent vegan base for a nutritious meal.

Seitan needs to be cooked in stock before being used but after cooked it can be stir fried, deep fried or used in casseroles. I cooked in a bean and tomato soup that I was making for our lunch and it came delicious! In fact, I think I might make more of it soon.

Happy accident after all!

The yeast failed because the packet said best before September 2009. No wonder!

nattiecake

I had a loaf fail in the breadmaker, so I made some rather dense bread and butter pudding with it and some 8p custard

sweetilemon

If it happens again rolled out and some garlic butter on top would be a nice naan bread style bread for curry. Yum.